(CBN) – A church in Hawkins, Texas is in an all-out legal battle with city authorities over the removal of a sign on Highway 80 that read, “Jesus welcomes you to Hawkins.” City officials removed the sign early Friday morning after a four-year legal battle with the church. Hawkin’s leaders say their problem isn’t with what the sign said, but where it stood. Jesus Christ Open Altar Church erected the banner in 2015 in front of a local coffee shop owned by the church. However, the city argues the sign was on public property and
needed to be removed to make way for a future highway construction project. The church says it bought the property from two funeral homes. However, city officials claim the funeral homes did not have the legal right to sell the property and it actually belongs to the city. “There is no, absolutely none, religious thing going on here at all, as far as the City of Hawkins is concerned,” Hawkins Mayor Tom Parkers told KLTV News. “All we’re concerned with is constructing a safe entrance onto Highway 80 from Blackburn Street.” READ MORE
